Chapter 277 - A Hostile Greeting (1/2)

Tempest Cliff, inside the Verdant Blossom Branch Alliance's small ecosystem.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Within one of the rooms inside the Tower of Seclusion, one would be able to find a humanoid made out of light blue energy sitting on the ground. At the moment, multiple specks of light blue light flitted around its body, making one feel that they were looking at an elemental commonly found in forests. On top of that, the aura this being radiated was akin to the feeling one felt from having a soft breeze caress one's skin. Surprisingly, one would also feel relaxed and calm while looking at the being. This being was none other than Horell, the Supreme Guardian of the Verdant Blossom Branch Alliance.

After Aurus had undergone his process of evolution, the strength of the alliance as a whole had been bolstered to a great degree under the leadership of three experienced leaders. Adding on the fact that the alliance had also leveled up thanks to it, one could say that if the war between Chonk and the alliance had happened once more, the overwhelming victory the alliance obtained would be more overwhelming than before.

As multiple specks of light continued to flit around his body, Horell's sense of vision was currently closed, allowing his senses to sharpen as he focused on improving his combat power. Although he was the Supreme Guardian of the alliance, the strength he had a Pseudo-Animate was now lacking, prompting him to go ahead and seclude himself for improvement as he recalled the strength the three leaders showed.

Naturally, Horell accepted the fact that Herellia was stronger than him. Since she was the leader of the alliance, it would not make sense if she had a level of power less than that of the Supreme Guardian. What urged Horell to go ahead and improve himself was, in fact, the two other leaders of the alliance, which were Harriott and Cermalia.

Since their respective alliances had been destroyed by Chonk, they were fine with becoming Elders of the alliance. But being equipped with the knowledge and know-how they had before that happened, combined with the power of the current alliance, it made sense that they would grow back to their original strength in no time…and that's exactly what happened.

By arduously fighting against Inanimates for over half a week, their power had now returned to that of an X-grade Inanimate. On top of that, it seemed to surpass their original strength as well. At this point, Horell decided to spar with them to see how strong they've gotten, only to find out that their strengths at full power were actually comparable to his.

”As expected from the former leaders,” Horell muttered to himself as he let out a sigh. After that, he continued to manipulate the specks of light surrounding his body, understanding their intrinsic nature.

Unfortunately, just as Horell felt that he was about to achieve a breakthrough in his understanding of the blue specks of light, a terrifying aura from afar washed over his body, prompting him to abruptly halt his training session as the feeling he felt from that aura was something he did not ignore.

A feeling of fear and death.

In an instant, Horell opened his sense of vision before going ahead and muttering incantations, conjuring a few magic circles over his hands a few seconds later. He then sent these circles towards the direction where he felt the aura, allowing him to obtain more information about who the being that radiated the aura was. It only took a few seconds for him to collect the information while the being that radiated it was left unaware.

With that information in mind, he hastily sent a strand of energy towards Herellia, informing her that he had important news to tell her. After that, he went ahead and disappeared from the room he was in an instant, appearing in another place not a second later. After repeating that for a couple more times, he had eventually arrived at where Herellia was at.

Greeting him was the sight of a large branch covered in crimson red veins, radiating an aura that took on a shade of crimson red. Even though Horell was not inside the aura, it was enough for him to feel the intense bloodl.u.s.t brought about by the aura. Of course, this branch was none other than the leader of the Verdant Blossom Branch Alliance, Herellia.

Whoosh!

With the aura surrounding her being dispelled in less than a second, Herellia soon opened her sense of vision before focusing on Horell, who was currently in front of her. Reading the message contained in the strand of energy he sent her, she then went ahead and asked him, ”What news do you have to tell me?”

”Probably bad news,” Horell replied, radiating an aura of slight fear and trepidation. In response, Herellia replied, ”Oh? How so?”

”While I was training in the Tower of Seclusion, I sensed an aura stronger than myself enter the Tempest Cliff,” Horell responded to her question. He then continued, ”At first, I thought this being was only passing through the Tempest Cliff to head towards another direction. But then, I went ahead and utilized a few spells to predict the being's path.”

”Surprisingly, the path that being is taking ends at our base,” he added, making Herellia feel like another problem involving the alliance was about to appear once more.

”Did you check what existence level that being is at?” Herellia soon asked after absorbing all the information, with Horell nodding his head as he replied, ”Pseudo-Animate, though on the stronger side.”

”Hmm…” Herellia mulled over their possible course of action for quite some time. Eventually, she looked at Horell and asked, ”Although I could go ahead and utilize the thing I did back in the war, it takes a long time for it to be prepared.”

”Do you think you can go and confront that being in my stead?” she added not long after, to which Horell lightly nodded. He then uttered, ”Although I'm not sure if I can defeat the being, I'm sure I could stall for time, giving you enough time to prepare that technique.”

”As expected of you,” Herellia said in response to his statement, letting out a light chuckle afterward. She then pondered over Horell's chances of stalling for enough time, concluding that it would be better if he had access to that certain technique.

Just as Horell thought that the conversation between them was over, Herellia suddenly said, ”You know what? To make sure you can stall for enough time, you can use the Supreme Alliance skill.”

”Are you serious?” Horell could not help but ask, radiating an aura of slight disbelief. At most, he thought that he would just have to rely on his skills and hope that luck was on his side. But with the Supreme Alliance skill in his arsenal, he was sure that he could stall for enough time. Of course, he did not show his excitement in being the first one to use it in a fight, maintaining his composure.

”Mhm,” Herellia uttered before saying, ”Don't use it at the start. Only use it as a last resort, okay?”

”I'll keep that in mind,” Horell replied as he nodded. He then said his goodbyes to Herellia before disappearing in front of her field of vision. At the very instant Herellia was now alone, she muttered to herself, ”I wonder if the alliance would be in danger in front of such a being.”

”But now that I think about it, from the information Horell gave me, why do I feel like that aura is quite familiar?”

…